Pop Punk Rock

[cloy26]

woo. I know you guys love the genre. Lol. I'm recording a 3 piece pop rock group. Here is the rough mix with no vocals. All comments are always greatly appreciated.

https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2376100/National Champs-Song1mixing.mp3

Drums
Mic'ed and triggered through S2.0
A little EQ on the kick, but I am assuming I need to eq some snare and toms.
OH's are real. Spaced Pair

Guitars
Double track (100%R 100%L)
Gibson Les Paul Studio -> Peavey 5150 II -> Marshall 1960B -> SM57 on edge of cone.
Bass is DI'd with ampeg sim and an ampeg impulse.

EDIT: Whats a good free reverb that would work well on drums?

New Link:
https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2376100/National Champs-Song1mixing.mp3

I think it sounds terrible since I've added the vocals in... Please help me out... What the hell is wrong with this? It seems like its too hot almost...

 

[JGolden]

The first thing that popped out to me was the bass guitar. It's audible, but I feel like it's not big enough. Did you use any/much compression on it?

Edit: Just another thought that came to me, and it's probably too late for this since you are in the mixing stage. But, during the leads that start around :35, having another guitar part playing some 8th note power chords or something like that would fill out these parts and make them seem less dull. Not to mention give something in between the bass guitar and a lead to help gel things together. This is just a composition thing, so I apologize for getting off topic.

 

[cloy26]

No I completely understand and I said that exactly word for word to the guitarist, and he disagreed. I mean, I don't mind people disagreeing with me, lol, but I new it would sound awkward.

The bass has a compressor on it. Stillwell rocket compressor. I only used the preset; I def need to learn what each thing does. Like, I know what they do, but I can't use it in a mix. Should I look somewhere else for a bass amp sim? Or maybe put an exciter in the chain?

The drums sound ok though? Its my first time every triggering them in s2.0 and idk. lol. They couldn't play to a metronome, so I can't really go back and edit too much... :\

 

[JGolden]

The bass has a compressor on it. Stillwell rocket compressor. I only used the preset; I def need to learn what each thing does. Like, I know what they do, but I can't use it in a mix. Should I look somewhere else for a bass amp sim? Or maybe put an exciter in the chain?

The drums sound ok though? Its my first time every triggering them in s2.0 and idk. lol. They couldn't play to a metronome, so I can't really go back and edit too much... :

Well, the first thing to learn about compressing bass is that it's not uncommon to use a LOT of gain reduction. Since it's the foundation of the song it can't be wavering around jacking the whole thing up. I tend to use higher ratios, fast attacks and med-slow release times to keep it really locked down.

I don't know too much about bass amp sims. The sim I use is the Sans Amp plug in in Pro Tools and I like it ok. A lot of guys are using the Sans Amp Bass Driver DI.

The kick sounds rather puffy to me. I would get some more attack out of it and notch out the ol' mids like everybody does. The snare could use some/more reverb to give it more space and realism. Maybe some EQ anywhere from 150 - 250 to give it some bottom. Hope this helps.

 

[cloy26]

Yah dude. Thanks so much.

I was kind of hesitant to scoop out the kick because I don't want the metal click. I was going for a pretty natural sound.

I need a good reverb... I don't have one. Any suggestions? Preferably free... but on the cheaper end if its worth it.

 

[JGolden]

Since I'm using Pro Tools I just use D Verb. It 's free for Pro Tools and isn't too bad, so unfortunately I never did any shopping around for reverbs. What DAW are you using? It seems like most of them come with a decent enough reverb to get you by. For snare I like to use a plate verb with about 20 ms of pre-delay, and with the decay time in tempo with the song of course.

 

[JGolden]

I just found this big list of freeware plug ins. I'm sure you could find something on there compatible with your rig that sounds decent.

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/software.php/id/7037/audio/Plug-ins/

 

[cloy26]

Reaper. I never got a hold of the reverb that comes with reaper. :\

I'm glad this is coming up because its teaching me one thing I knew, but didn't take into account: I need to learn my damn vsts inside out. lol. So thanks.

 

[cloy26]

Bump for new link.

https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/2376100/National Champs-Song1mixing.mp3

It sounds really bad... I have no idea what it is. I sounded fine before I added the vocals in but then Bam, instant mud and shit. Idk what I did.